I'd rather spin the world
by uhhidunnowhattodo
Summary: What if Annette Hebert had a maiden name that went by Murphy?
1. Chapter 1

Taylor Hebert is a happy girl, well as happy as a little girl can be in a dark reconstruction web serial about superheroes, though at the moment the correct adjective would be emotionally broken and sad. She was sitting on her bed being comforted by her best friend, Emma Barnes, weeks after her mother died in a car crash when she was just 8 years old.

Emma Barnes was at a loss at what to do currently. However this version Emma Barnes began to deviate from the one we all know and love the way one loves having garbage thrown in her face.

"I just wish that *sniff* I could just see and talk to her again." Taylor sobbed.

This line of dialogue was the one that sparked a lightbulb in Emma's brain. And was the start of the diversion.

"There's no one sopping us from seeing her right now"

Taylor looked up at her friend "Wh-What?" she said in confusion

"Well there's nothing stopping us from going to her grave right now." Emma tried to smile comfortingly.

"B-but we don't even have the directions!"

"There is Google Taylor."

And a weak smile broke through the weeks of tears.

So they looked up the directions and got on their well-used bikes and sped off into the night. Unknown to them strange and inconvenient things were happening around them.

A car driven by the E88 ,full of people who were less than moral and after coming upon two little girl would proceed to do less than savory things to them given a good excuse, that would've stumbled upon our protagonists. Had all their tires somehow popped before they could do so. A group of ABB taking patrols upon their territory that also would have the same intentions as their rival gang counterpart had slipped on multiple banana peels in cutting through an alley at the same time and manage to knock all patrolling members unconscious. Robbers who were in a police chase on foot, away from robbing a jewelry store, and would have used the girls as hostages had been run over by a runaway car that was the result of a towing truck's hook rusting off and breaking. As this incident happened in a uphill street the car rolled down and gained speed right into the path of the robbers' escape and also prevented them from happening upon the two girls.

Incidents like this gradually escalated bordering on bare ridiculous and clinging on to coincidence. Almost as if some strange and mysterious force was awakening and the origin point of the force happened to be moving towards a graveyard where a certain mother was buried.

Taylor and Emma had managed to hike their way over to Annette Hebert's gravestone. Her inscription reading

" _Annette Rose Hebert_

 _1969-2008_

 _She taught something precious to each of us._ "

Seeing this Taylor couldn't help but break into sobs again. Emma reached out to her but stopped once she saw her trying to smile.

"Hey Mom nice to see you again.*sniff* everything's fine right now … "Taylor attempted to smile but broke down once again.

Everything's not fine! Dad is too sad to DO anythng

"M-Mom wouldn't want me to be sad she would want me to move on and tough it out.*sniff* she managed to say through the sobs

She was interrupted when Emma pulled her suddenly into a hug as deep and tight as she could.

"Your mother wouldn't want you to hold it all in either. So let it out."(Granted Emma saw this in TV once but it seemed appropriate) It worked as it gave Taylor a reason to cry even harder while Emma patiently patted her friend's back.

(Unknown once again to them a force seemed to ripple outwards as if something was chained yet suddenly broke free. As if some set condition was met and was the requirement to allow the force to run amok. This force seemed mischievous and absolutely chaotic and was revolving around a crying girl in the metaphysical universe.)

After managing to stop crying they stayed silent for a while. Basking in the simple comfort that exuded they broke apart eventually.

Wiping away her tears with her sleeve Taylor said "We should probably get back" she now said with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Yeah" Emma responded (Silently thankful that she managed to comfort her as she had no idea if what she was doing was right or wrong but was once more thankful that it worked out)

The two friends held hands, smiled at each other and began to walk back towards their bikes

-and then were suddenly snatched up by a gigantic bird.

This bird was the majestic golden eagle. An eagle that was strong enough to carry a human child. Unusual though as it seemed to be augmented with the specifications to carry a full-grown human adult. It was an escapee of a parahuman with the name of "Zoo" who seemed to be able to control and augment animals less sapient than a human. Broke free from his control when he was knocked out after robbing a bank and had been living freely ever since. However the golden eagle still had the instinct that all birds had. An attraction to shiny objects. Especially the shiny object that Emma currently had around her wrist, a shiny "Gucci" bracelet covered in bling that happened to reflect the light from their flashlights that they used to navigate their way over there. This light managed to catch the bird's eye and attracted it like every other bird.

There's a certain kind of shock that hits you when you're carried off by a gigantic bird. The first thought that comes to your mind is ' _Is this really happening_ ' and after a short pause the realization hits that yes it really is happening. That's usually when the screaming starts.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

This was currently happening with both Taylor and Emma both of who were trying to free themselves with punching and kicking.

"Let us go you stupid bird!" Taylor yelled

The bird though complied as Emma had managed to score a lucky kick at the place "where the sun don't shine"

Unfortunately this meant that they were thousands of feet in the air over an asphalt highway as the bird had traveled far out of Brockton Bay.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

As 8 year olds don't have the mental fortitude to keep conscious when falling to their imminent demise they blacked out. And after doing so fell into the back of a farm animal delivery truck into a pile of hay.

This farm delivery truck was speeding off towards a certain city that served the basis for a certain group called the Slaughterhouse 9.

*6 years later*

"Welcome back to Fox World News after Harbinger was killed in a freak accident the Slaughterhouse9 has seemed to resurface yet again and in China a new peace has settled after Yangban was put into jail, Africa's rogue hero Moord Nag and her sidekick Ashes have defeated another villain on the rise. Meanwhile in Japan they are celebrating the defeat of Leviathan in Kyushu. Remember also to watch out for the mysterious and dangerous organization called Cauldron that seems to have dropped off more Case 53s in"

The phone blared out news that a person was holding at the bus stop and was also the place where two girls were waiting. One of the girls was wearing a dorky pink-striped sweater vest and shorts with strangely laceless shoes while also carrying a hefty-looking backpack. The other girl was wearing a short sleeved shirt with a purple bomber jacket with multiple pockets and a short skirt also holding pockets with spats underneath. On top of the skirt lay a belt that held a grappling hook of all things.

They got onto the bus and got off on separate stops. Both walked some distance before reaching a certain house.

Emma Barnes had stepped onto her front porch for the first time in 6 years.

Taylor Hebert had knocked on the front door of her house

Both were treated to looks of shock by whoever opened the door as the visitors (and possible stay-ins) said

"Hey Dad"

"Hey Sis"

"I'm home"

Once upon a time there was a girl named Taylor Hebert who became a psychic-like godly badass. Unfortunately this happened after she had been broken mentally and scarred for life. So let's make her a different kind of badass the kind who suffers through ridiculously dangerous situations every day and yet still come out with it with a smile. This version of Taylor Hebert had a mother that if she hadn't taken up her husband's name would be Annette Murphy.


	2. Madison Clements New Girl in Town

' _Okay a new day a new me'_

This was what Madison Clements thought as she walked towards her bus stop. She had just moved here and she was nervous as she had to leave all her friends at her old high school. It was scary going into the unknown. Then she saw a lone girl in the dorkiest sweater vest that she had ever seen.

 _'Hey might as well place my roots somewhere'_

However as she started to walk towards her the people that were also at the bus stop noticed this and started frantically signing at her to get away.

 _'What's their deal'_

This was what she then said to the sweater vest girl. While saying this she took a reassessment of the girl in front of her. Short wavy hair, bright green eyes, she wore a hefty looking backpack, not to forget the dorky sweater vest. She looked completely harmless.

"Oh you must be new here!" said the girl with a bright smile

"The name's Taylor Rose Hebert-Murphy and I'm kind of well-known" she held out her hand

"Oh uh Madison Clements" she shook her hand in return. "What do you mean by 'well-kno-'"

"Morning Taylor." A girl had come up to the bus stop. Looking at her she looked relaxed… but at the same time not. As if she was expecting something bad to happen… but was used to it?

"Oh hey Emma!" Huh seemed as if they knew each other.

"Nothing happened today? That's weird"

"Actually it was at home! Got a scar from it too! It's on my elbow, wanna see!"

"Kay" Taylor took out her phone, took a quick pic of her injury and sent it to Emma who viewed it on her phone.

"Huh definitely seems like it's going easy on you. Today it must be building up to something big"

"I know right!"

"Okay what's happening, am I missing something here?" Madison interjected

"What? Oh! You must be new here" responded Emma in a relaxed tone

"You should probably stay a few feet away from her." She advised

"Why though?" Madison was honestly confuzzled with the way her classmates were acting. Was she a cape with some dangerous power? She heard that some powers required isolation but then she wouldn't be going to school. Unless she had some sort of special procedures set in place?

"Well people have been known to call me the 'J-word.'"

"The J-wor" This was all Madison was able to get out before a white something fell from the sky between them.

"Ewwww!" Madison said with disgust for the white something was actually bird droppings "That's disgus-" A helmet was placed on her head "Wh-What?"

"This is familiar" muttered Taylor as she buckled on her helmet.

"What do you mean by familia-" Once again Madison was cut off.

The reason for this is that one is always surprised when they're being picked up by a gigantic bird for the first time.

And also the screaming

"See ya at school Emma!" Taylor shouted over Madison's screaming

"I'll be waiting!" shouted back Emma.

Emma waited until the two of them were out of sight as the bird continued in the opposite direction of Winslow High. The bus then appeared in the horizon as Emma said

"So anyone wanna bet if they'll come to school on time?"

The hands of everyone at the bus stop were like the fast motion videos of a plant in growth. As in they rise immediately.

Part II

 _'That makes a total of 80 bucks'_

This is the thought that ran through Emma's mind as she wrote down the money that she would be collecting when if she won.

Currently Emma was holding a clipboard while she rode the bus collecting all the sucker bets that she would be receiving for her own benefit.

 _'Wonder where Taylor and that other girl are right now?_ '

And then a scenery of fireworks exploded on the scene viewed through the side windows of the bus

 _'Nevermind'_

"GIANT ROBOT GIANT ROBOT GIANT ROBOT GIANT ROBOOOOOOOOOOOOT!"

"Madison I already know that a Giant Robot is chasing us but you don't need to repeat it. What about these fireworks? You haven't mentioned them."

"OH SURE LET'S NOT FORGET ABOUT THE FIREWORKS THAT COULD IMMOLATE US AT ANY MOMENT!"

"Yup it's the little things in life that counts. You should also stop screaming you'll start to lose your voice. Trust me I've tried PLENTY of times."

This was the conversation that Madison had with the girl that was WAY too nonplussed about having a GIANT F******ING ROBOT chasing after them among firework supplies. Not to mention the LASER that it kept shooting setting all the D***N things off.

They were dropped by the bird after he seemed to be disoriented from the reflected glare of the sun off the shiny gift wrappings that was hit just right that a certain villain had wrapped around his hand. They were dropped smack into some kind of trash can robot.

"Oh Uber! Leet! Hi guys!" Taylor said in greeting snapping out of her disoriented daze. Meanwhile Madison tried not to barf.

"Oh shi- I mean Hiiiiiii~ Taylooor~."

"OH MY GOSH! Are those Dr. Zone costumes you're wearing!?" Taylor exclaimed in glee

Madison tried to summon up the breath to speak her mind which was being embroiled with many questions. Such as "What the hell just happened" or "By J-word do you mean Jinx?" or "Who the heck are these weirdos" or "The hell is Doctor Zone" and any of the other numerous questions that were piling up to be said. However before she could say them she was interrupted by a robotic voice.

"T-TARGETING AL-LL- ORGAN-GANICS-FOR DELETION!" was what the malfunctioning automaton iterated. This statement managed to silence all attending parties and made evacuate with the speed of chicken with its tail feathers on fire.

The "Uber and Leet" guys somehow managed to f*** off even faster than they could and so with nothing else to "delete" it decided on the two 15 year old within its presence.

Which brings you up to their current predicament running away from a trash can droid as it shot lasers at them among firework supplies.

While Madison was pleading to God, Buddha, Friggin Cthulu or whoever was up there to get her out of this mess Taylor had a look of contemplation.

"Madison get me a firework." Taylor said as she swung her backpack around to her front.

"W-WHAT?!" Madison breathed out hysterically.

"A firework. Now please!" Taylor was now rummaging through her rucksack searching for something specific.

Madison was startled into the action of snagging a firework form a nearby crate and handed it over to Taylor quickly. That was when Taylor managed to pull out her item of interest.

 _'How the hell did she manage to fit that inside her backpack'_

Taylor had somehow pulled out a metallic and reflective shield. She was now turning around TOWARD the robot with firework in hand

"What the HELL are you doing!?" Madison couldn't help but yell.

"Improvising!" was all Taylor managed to say charging directly at the robot with shield in front.

The lasers bounced off the shield and, when Taylor was close enough, had jammed the shooting apparatus of the thing with firework. The quickly dashed off as fast as she could.

BAM! The firework exploded blowing the laser shooter clean off the thing and severely damaging the robot.

Madison could only stand there gaping when Taylor pulled her out of her daze by the hand in running away.

BOOM

Fireworks went off EVERYWHERE. The shrapnel and burning debris caused a chain reaction from debris to firework to even more fireworks in destruction. Unfortunately it seemed as if the chain of explosions that were exploding outwards was making its way TOO quickly towards them.

Before they could die a colorfully explosive death they grabbed up by thick arms that shielded them. Strangely enough they felt colder and metallic like the long they were in them.

Safe from the explosive clusterf*** of a mess the looked up to see who their savior was.

"Oh Hey Kenta! Long time no see!

Part III

Madison was frozen. Well any girl would be if they were being held in the arms of a muscular Asian man. The man also seemed to have developed a metallic arms, back, and wings. All of these were what protected them from the fireworks blast as it blasted them off into some other part of the city than the one they were in before. Though once again Madison couldn't comment on the situation as her tongue seemed stuck to her throat, her throat was dry, and her brain was also in the same state as her body,-paralyzed.

 _'Humina-Humina-Humina-Humina'_ was the background noise her brain decided to pick for the mood.

"Murphy I thought that you would at least stay away from explosives considering your…. condition." Kenta said as he lowered his arms to let them get down.

(' _Oh god his voice'_ Madison thought as she listened to the deep growl undertone)

"It's not as if I was trying to go amongst explosives." Said Taylor as she got down from his arm. "I mean if I ever want to there is an explosives museum just out of Brockton Ba-"

"No"

"Right, right, I was just kidding Kenta" Taylor teased

"I don't care just don't do that" Kenta said with a frown.

Madison was speechless but it wasn't due to being out of breath or being dropped out of the sky this time but more due to a complete shutdown of her brain. ' _I'm so close to his_ _ **BARE-NAKED CHEST**_ _'_ she mentally screamed.

"…Taylor" Kenta said

"Kenta if this is about me not going near explosives you know I can't help it as much as you can't help your fear of shirts"

"I'm not afraid of-! … look Taylor I'm talking about something else"

"Oh I knew it!" Taylor exclaimed as if in realization "You can't wear shirts because your nipples are sensitive!" She smiled as if the she finally solved some mystery that was unsolvable meanwhile Madison was choking (mentally) when she heard the word nipples.

"Wha-NO!" Kenta yelled in unwanted embarrassment. His voice going a few decibels higher than his normally deep tone usually was. He sighed in exasperation "I meant your… friend won't get off." He glanced at her and Madison was still had a somewhat glazed over expression. "I think she might be in shock" he said uncertainly.

"Oh where are my manners!" Taylor had a horrified look on her face. "I haven't even introduced you yet!"

"I didn't ask you to introduce us I asked you to-"

Taylor bowled over his remark as if she hadn't even heard or noticed him saying anything at all. "Kenta this is Madison. Madison meet Kenta. Say Hi!"

Silence was the only response that was met

"Madison?" Silence still reigned. "MADISON!"

Madison was startled into movement falling off Kenta's arm and scrambling back until she was beside Taylor. Then she quickly stood up patting down her outfit to look presentable and looked up at him.

 _'Oh God he's so BIG'_ was another thought that her stupid brain decided to have apparently.

"Madison?" Madison turned her head. Taylor was looking at her in confusion. "Meet Kenta" Taylor gestured towards him.

There were many things Madison could have said. "My name's Madison" or "So you know Taylor?" and also "S'up dude, name's Madison ya hear". All of those were better that what she actually said as she raised her hand in greeting and spoke.

"You're muscles are nice"

Apparently both her mouth and her brain were conspiring against her in being stupid.

"….Right Taylor what are you doing here." Kenta said as he decided to ignore that and deal with what was important. Madison was thankful for that and also wanted to die on the inside.

"Oh we were just trying to get to school and then-"

"No need to explain anymore." Kenta interrupted. "I got the gist of it. If you need to get to school I can take you two"

"Thanks Kenta!" "OH THANK GOD" was said by Taylor and Madison simultaneously.

He held up a hand. "Hold on though I need to prepare" He took out a pile of rectangular slips of paper and…. started slapping them onto himself?

"…What are those?" Madison couldn't help but ask

"Talismans to ward off evil spirits" he said nonchalantly as he slapped another talisman on.

"Kentaaaaaaa." Taylor said with an exasperated tone. "I told you before I'm NOT haunted."

"Your right!" He stopped slapping on talismans.

"See Kenta evil spirits are NOT-"

"This "Murphy" demon is of Western origin!" Kenta exclaimed in realization. "I need a cross to ward him off"

"That's not what I mea" Taylor was cut off by ringing coming from Kenta's pants' pocket.

"Kenta raised a finger as a sign for them to wait as he flipped open his phone.

"I'm busy what is it!"

A muffled voice was heard over the phone. It seemed frantic in tone for some reason

"Lee is WHAT!" Kenta shouted making Madison flinch. "STOP HIM!"

The voice on the other end gave off a short reply. This time it's tone sounded tired and unbelieving.

"HE'S ALREADY- GRRAGH!" He shouted in frustration. "JUST HOLD HIM OFF UNTIL I GET THERE!"

 _'Oh no' Madison thought._

He sighed and turned to them his face in worried exasperation. "Sorry-I-have-to-go-right-now-Bye" Was all he said before he turned away and dashed off.

"Good Luck" said Taylor in farewell.

 _'Don't go'_ mentally sobbed out Madison as she reached out a hand uselessly.

They stared as he vanished off into the distance running.

"Welp time to get a move on!" Taylor said cheerfully as she grabbed Madison's hand and started walking in the opposite direction.

The walk was awkward, well for Madison, Taylor was just smiling gaily and humming a cheery tune while Madison was currently rolling over all her options to talk about WHAT THE F*** WAS GOING ON.

Pulling on her experiences of popularity from previous schools she decided to start it off with small talk.

"So…. Kenta?"

 _'GREAT JOB MADISON'_ she thought sarcastically to herself. It also seemed as if popular high school girl instinct also led to talking about the hot guy.

"Oh Kenta? He's pretty great once you get to know him! Taylor said in upbeat reminiscence. "Although it's really hard to hang out with him since he's busy with his duties as a gang leader."

"Mhmm" Madison nodded in attentiveness. Then what Taylor said caught up to her.

"Wait WhaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Madison was screaming because while walking and due to hearing what Taylor had just said she had failed to notice the open manhole that was in front of her.

Taylor grabbed onto the back of Madison's shirt but was eventually overbalanced and fell in with her.

Part IV

"Huh" Taylor said as she stared at the broken off ladder rung in her hands.

She had tried to reassure Madison who was currently hyperventilating REALLY hard that they could still climb up the ladder to the surface form the sewers. Then she tried climbing up the ladder to the open manhole.

"Don't worry Madison!" She tried to give a reassuring grin. "The ladder is still intact!"

Then the top of the ladder fell down into the sewage water, quickly carried away by the currents they could do nothing by watch as it disappeared beyond their sight.

"Huh This situation calls for a grappling hook solution but Emma has that and isn't with us right now."

This was the last straw for Madison as she broke.

"WHAT THE F*** IS HAPPENING!" She screamed in the way a person has finally seen water in a desert. Hysterical, relieved, and crazy from the heat.

"WE'VE COME UPON A F****ING DISASTER ONE AFTER THE F***ING OTHER!" She sobbed. "FIRST WE GET PICKED OFF BY SOME BIGA** BIRD!" She gestured, frantically flapping her arms like a bird to emphasize her point. "THEN WE GET CHASED BY THOSE F****ING WEIRDOES' ROBOT THING!" She started moving mechanically imitating a robot. "THEN THE ONLY GOOD THING FROM THIS MESS IS MEETING THAT HOT GUY!

"Kenta?" Taylor couldn't help but interject incredulously but was silenced when Madison shot her a look filled with twitching muscles and complete exasperation. "Right, right, sorry. Please continue."

"AND THEN IT TURNS OUT HE'S THE LEADER OF A GANG APPARENTLY!" Madison threw her hands up in the air. "BECAUSE WHY THE F*** NOT!" She paused for a second trying to take a breath.

"AAAAANNNNNND THEN!" She spreads her arms out wide gesturing everywhere. "THIS S*** HAPPENS!" She then slaps her face and drags them down. "WHAT'S HAPPENING!"

"I'm cursed"

Madison slowly turned to look at Taylor with confusion and incredulity. "….What?"

"Yeah sorry I told you to stay a few feet away because I'm cursed"

Madison opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted

"And before you can say something like 'are you sure you aren't a cape' or something along the lines with that. Let's just say I've been tested and the signs of… parahumaness(?) doesn't show up with me."

Madison could only say "….cursed?" while looking at Taylor as if she's insane.

"Yeah you know how Murphy is part of my last name? Well it turns out on my mother's side my ancestor is the Murphy guy who came up with Murphy's law. and ever since then, and probably before too, any male relations of his gain his curse of bad luck."

"Wait I thought you said male then why are you….?" Madison trailed off her mind too dazed to call Bulls****.

"Oh that's because apparently I fulfilled some set condition to activate it in a female relation." She waved her hand from side to side. "Don't ask me what it is. I didn't completely understand it either."

Madison put her head in her hands and stood like that for a moment. Then she raised her head and was about to insult Taylor for lying to her when her mind decided to remind her of all the unlikely and impossible situations that seemed to occur in just 1 HOUR. Then she thought better of it and mulled over what to say.

"…So you're cursed." Madison finally said orconfirmation.

"Yup! If you ask Emma she'll also confirm it for you."

Madison couldn't help but ask her in bewildered astonishment. "But if you are cursed then isn't that terrible!? I mean you're living your life one calamity after the other! If you're cursed then shouldn't you be like inside cowering in fear of what's going to happen!?" Madison gestured at Taylor. "But you!...You're smiling as if it doesn't bother you in the least! How can you be so cheerful knowing you're cursed!?"

Taylor was a little taken aback at her outburst but proceeded to think over what she said before finally responding.

"Well sure Murphy's Law can definitely be inconvenient. And it can DEFINITELY cause massive amounts of property damage." She looked up for a bit then faced Madison with a small smile on her face. "But when I was at my lowest point it pulled me and my friend Emma on the adventure of a lifetime. Surprisingly all that chaos HELPED me become better along the way and … helped me become more than I am." Then that smile became a full on beam of happiness "And besides remember those other kids!? They took a bus to school! A B-U-S." Taylor enunciated. "While we were picked up by a giant bird defeated an malfunctioning killer robot and you became friends with a gang leader! Can you count the number of people who have done that in one HOUR!" She spread her arms out wide. "Thanks to Murphy's Law everyday is an adventure that I don't know what's going to happen next!" Then Taylor's eyes widened before putting her arms down and grinning a little sheepishly. "Though I understand if you don't wanna be around me anymore." She rubbed the back of her head. "This life isn't for everyone."

Madison digested everything Taylor said before saying.

"Alright…. What do we next to get to school" Madison finished with a small smile.

Because while Madison had agreed that this was one of the WORST days of her life… it was also the most memorable. Sure this was definitely no normal but looking back on her life there was always monotonous trying to be the popular girl at school, trying to fit in, always trying to be the good girl.. Looking at Taylor she looked.. free and Madison realized that she wanted to be that. To be free from how boring and terrible life usually seemed to be.

 _'Besides'_ Madison thought. _I wanted to let go of the old Madison and become a new me.'_ Madison also couldn't help but smile a little impishly in her head. _'Also if I gat to meet even more hot guys around her it would be a good bonus with hanging out with her.'_

Taylor smiled even wider "Great! I just know how we can get out of here!"

She pulled out her phone. "I have amazing GPS app that can-oh wait there's no signal. Hold on." She then rummaged through her knapsack pulling out a giant map and handing over a yellow rectangle with a red pull string to Madison.

"Uh…What's this?"

"Just put it in the water, make sure to hold on, and pull on the tab." Taylor asked while she tried to pull out more things from her backpack.

"Uhh..Okay.." She pulled it and the yellow rectangle expanded into another form.

Madison threw her hands at the thing floating in the water. "Why do you have an inflatable raft in your-"

"Catch" Madison caught the thing that was thrown at her.

It was a stainless steel oar and looking at Taylor saw that she also holding one too.

"Come on" Taylor said as she got on the raft. "Climb on aboard!"

"How did you fit these in your backpack!?"said Madison as she sat in behind her.

Taylor winked at her. "Amazing what one can learn online right?"

Taylor looked at the map for a quick second before pointing forwards and commanding

"ROW THATAWAY!"

Part V

"Look! There they are!"

Emma turned her head in the direction of the voice only to see the numerous kids on the bus gathered on one side staring at something out the windows. She had just been in the middle of compiling the list of bet that didn't include money but favors and food. (The two fs that helped noth Taylor and her survive when they were lost in the world.)

"Okay, Okay move aside!" said Emma as she moved past the kids in her way to see what they were getting all excited about. "Sheesh! You guys are gonna tip this bus over if you don't get back to your spo- oh" Emma abruptly stopped her lecture as she saw both Taylor and the new girl floating on the raft in the river that was under the bridge they were traveling across.

It was with this view that she also saw what was coming their way.

"You know I should've expected this to be honest" said Madison with an expression that said 'of course why not'. "I mean why shouldn't it? After all of course ALLIGATORS would be in the F***ING SEWERS!

"Madison Clements!" Taylor turned her head around with a stern expression on her face while rowing. "Language!"

When they managed to escape the sewers they were glad to finally see the sun. They were also somewhat happy to see their pursuers which had been chasing hem during the entirety of the trip. In the middle of their sewer romp dozen of alligators had been in the depths of the sewer courtesy of them escaping after Emma quickly dealt with the reemergence of the parahuman "Zoo" who had them under his control until Emma punched him in the face and left him tied up for the PRT to apprehend. (Once again the PRT was confused at how they kept missing the vigilante who kept taking down the criminals even faster than they could. It seemed as if Armsmaster kept on getting even more furious the more these uncredited captures kept showing up)

The two had managed to lose most of the carnivorous reptiles in the sewers but left only 3 still chasing them.

"Oh I'm Sorry for being hysterical WHEN THERE ARE ALLIGATORS WANTING TO EAT US!"

"Apology accepted" said Taylor as she leaned back from a snapping jaw.

An alligator burst out of the water leaping at them. It would've been able to get in if not for Madison letting out a shriek and instinctively whacking it across the snout with her oar.

"Wow good job Madison!" praised Taylor as she also held off another alligator with the use of her oar. "That swing was just as good as Emma's!"

"Emma had to fight off alligators too?" Madison questioned breathlessly as she wrenched her oar away from the alligators teeth after stomping on its face and hitting it away again.

"Well no" informed Taylor as she helped Madison fend them off. "We were in the Pacific instead of the river" a pull back of an oar from a toothy snout. "And it was dolphins that we were fighting sharks instead of alligators"

Madison looked at Taylor incredulously "Why were you guys in the Pacifi-"

"POP!"

With rising dread both raftees turned towards where the sound had come from and saw that one of the alligators had bit down o the raft…. And it was starting to deflate.

"Madison!" shouted Taylor. With that shout and the look shared between both eyes Madison got the gist of the message a both people threw their oars at the alligator causing it to let go.

It was only after throwing her oar away that Madison realized fully what she had done and hysterically exclaimed "WHAT NOW!"

Taylor only grabbed her hand and along with her jumped at the alligators.

' _Holy s***!'_ was what went through all the bus's passengers minds as they paused in bewilderment from pulling out there phones as they saw what the two were doing. All except Emma who had already managed to pull out her phone and was currently taking pictures and filming."

"It's an alligator rodeo!" One student said excitedly while others look on in trepidation and horror.

' _Ah this is the life'_ Madison couldn't help but think as she swan though the pool of with her best friend Emma and her other friend Sophie. She was a little rude at first but when they got to know each other, they gradually warmed up to each other. She hoped her life would be a bit more exciting when she got to Brockton Bay but it seemed like it was for naught. _'Well this is fine too, I guess._ She thought relunctantly. She was flutterboarding across the pool and was having a bit of trouble getting it under control. How embarrassing if any of her new friends saw this they'd think she was a baby. Struggling to keep upright she accidentally plunged herself underwater

Only to break out of the water and think _'F*** me. Did I just blackout?'_ because there was no pool or flutterboard, instead she was hanging on to an alligator with one Taylor Hebert-Murphy along with her holding on for dear life. As she looked at Taylor to see how she was doing while she made sure to not get chomped while hanging on. Only to gape at seeing Taylor riding the alligator like a professional bullrider with a leather belt in its mouth and the end in her hands in the imitation of reins.

"Madison! Your Hand!" Taylor shouted

' _Oh God did it EAT my hand without noticing!'_ worried Madison as she quickly looked back at her hand. She saw that her own hand also was clasping firmly onto a leather belt like Taylor's ' _How did this get her-'_ Madison remembered feeling something that Taylor pushed onto her hand as they jumped at the alligators but didn't notice as she was JUMPING AT ALLIGATORS!

Quickly getting the same idea as Taylor as soon as the alligator opened its mouth trying to eat her she moved forward and got it around the snout and pulled. She was pretty sure its teeth grazed her hand while she was doing so but was too busy to contemplate that as she was now riding the alligator like a bucking bronco.

Outside Madison might have even appeared cool and collected but on the inside…

' _Oh my God Oh my God ohmigodOHMIGODOHMIGODOMG'_ was what Madison's internal monologue consisted of as she struggled to hold on nearly slipping.

The bus's passengers watched as the two performed as the two introduced the newer, more dangerous counterpart to bullriding to them as the riders rides thrashed away from their line of sight and the bus moved away.

"Umm… are they gonna be okay?" One student couldn't help but ask with uncertainty."

Emma waved off the students' concerns while she saved the video and photos she got from the ordeal that everyone else didn't manage to.

"Oh they'll be fine. Taylor's faced worse before, Anyways what did you say your bet was" Emma said already taking her mind off the spectacle.

"You can't possibly STILL think they'll get to school on time." Another student said along with others voicing out their disbelief.

"I'm pretty sure that's for granted… unless you'd like to prove me wrong?" Emma raised an eyebrow pen pointed at the disbelieving people in challenge.

As the bus sped away Emma could have cackled in maniacal laughter as she counted off the numerous rewards she'd soon be having but didn't because that would be insane and D*MNIT she was not going to let Murphy's Law F***ING GET TO HER.

(She got this far without going insane and she was going to make D*MN well sure it would stay that way)

While Emma was busy exploiting Murphy's Law for her own benefit. Taylor and Madison were having the time of their lives. Or to be more accurate Taylor was cheerful and was glad to make a new friend while Madison was having the time of her life. And that time was (as Madison believes it to be) her impending death.

While the alligators thrashed their way down the river passing debris, a cargo boat, and other creatures that do their business in the water, a facsimile of an idea appeared to them.

For in the midst of chaos and absolute utter nonsense ingenuity can come forth, that is after all what gave the humanity the ability to make fire and proceed to further innovation into civilization.

It is this kind of chaos that brought this to the alligator's forefront of what could be called a mind. 'If the tasty meatsacks can't be reached on my back then what about eating the meatsack on the other's back!'

It was at this moment that both riding parties felt something akin to a shiver travel pass down their spines (or for accuracy's sake Madison having a full-body shudder with a Taylor grinning desensitized by situations like this so much that shivers are more of a 'tingle' at this point.)

So the alligators jumped intending to snatch off their prize and feast on the bloody buffet. If not for the fact that Taylor has become instinctual self-preservation and things relating to it that she yelled "JUMP!" as leaped off the back while her ride took off into the air. Madison's body simply decided to listen to the person who was saving their butts so far throughout this ordeal, something the mind has given full permission to do so and followed what Taylor said.

If the alligators were more aware of the finer nuances of executing a plan, such as timing, then the girls would not have been treated to a spectacle of not all too dissimilar to two trucks flying off full speed off a ramp and crashing together in midair. That is what happened as both alligators decided to jump at the same time bringing to mind another key component of a well-executed plan. Communication.

Madison could do nothing but WHEEZE in thankfulness as she treaded the water. Although she was miffed about her clothes being wet she was more concerned with the fact that she was NOT DEAD. So that was GREAT. Then Madison noticed the pensive and confused expression on Taylor's face.

"What is it you're so worried about" Madison gasped out as she struggled just a little harder to stay afloat. Once more thankful, this time to her parents, who forced her to take swimming classes when she didn't want to. Now she wanted to tell her whiny younger self to shut up because she is ALIVE thank you very much.

"Yeah it's just… Taylor trailed off in thought before looking around her surroundings.

"Wasn't there a third alligator?"

A row of teeth rose out of the water and zoomed towards the both of them open wide.

Part VI

Madison did scream when she saw the gaping maw of toothy death coming at her. It went just like this.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?"

It trailed off at the end from full on slasher movie victim about to be killed to confused cheerleader when a pig slammed the snout shut as it fell from the sky.

The alligator having been smashed in the head by a 15 pound four legged walking pork could only sink down to the bottom of the river as it fell into unconsciousness.

The pig turned towards them. Its fur was a black with a white spot over its left eye. And currently it was staring at them very intensely.

"Oink." Squeaked the pig

Madison was finding dumbfounded to be an emotion that she was getting VERY well-acquainted with. The emotion only intensified as Taylor yelled in a scolding tone.

"Pioarkay! You're not supposed to be at the Brockton Bay river!" Taylor held a stern frown and wagged her wet finger which caused droplets of water to fly off, one of them hitting Madison in the eye, breaking her out of her stupefied daze.

But even then Madison could only turn to Taylor eye twitching in the set of a confused expression and point dumbly at the animal.

"…Piggy?"

"Oh!" Taylor put her hands to her cheeks in realization then put them down and started frantically treading water. After finally getting herself stable she raised in her arm towards the pig as if to showcase it.

"This is Pioarkay! The BEST pig in the entire world! Emma and I met her on our adventures and he has been my pet ever since!" Taylor finished off with a wide grin. "Althooooouugh" Taylor now had a frown on her face aimed at the pig "He's supposed to stay at home." She pointed her finger firmly at the riverside. "Pioarkay go home!"

"Oink" the pig somehow managed to convey the tone of a scolded child Madison couldn't help but note. Then she watched as the pig slowly started paddling away.

"Okay yeah sure why not" Madison said in a deadpan voice officially DONE with life.

"Madison!" Taylor directed her companion's attention towards a chain hanging from the boat they had passed while riding alligators. "We can climb up here!"

The boat they were on contained no driver and instead had a sign that merely said ON BREAK. It seems that the person on break forgot to tie it to shore and it had drifted off

Madison was grateful for the stroke of (seemingly) good luck

Now upon somewhat stable ground Madison was able to somewhat squeegee out most of the water from her clothes. Uggh the clothes she wore right now were supposed to make a good impression with her classmates. Now that it was wet and soggy what would they think.

Taylor though noticed her discomfort. "Ya know Madison I do have some spare clothes JUST in case I'd need them!" she offered.

"Really!" Madison said excitedly. Getting out of these wet clothes would be a lot more comfortable.

"Yup I always have another sweater vest close at hand!"

That statement made her freeze up. "…. I'll think about it"

"If you say so!"

No offense to Taylor but they had dramatically different tastes in fashion. She would wear those in privacy but not on the first day of school.

"Pffft…BWAHAHAHA"

Then Madison burst out loud into laughter. Here she was worrying about her wet clothes when she had JUST wrested with an alligator and had been saved by a pig.

Taylor joined her in laughing which made Madison stop and turn to Taylor in confusion. "Why are you laughing?"

"What? I thought we were laughing for the heck of it? I just wanted to feel included. "Why are you laughing?"

Releasing a snicker at this Madison said "Because today I wanted to have a little spice in my life and it came true."

"Oh so you've heard about that famous restaurant that uses the spiciest food!? Yeah the food Emma brings from there is REALLY GOOD! I can see why you would want that."

"W-wha- you know what. Nevermind. yeah that's exactly it." Madison responded with a smile.

Madison brushed off the topic. Taylor appeared to be very eccentric but you can't blame that from someone who was cursed apparently Madison thought to herself.

"Oh Okay. We can probably drive this boat to shore and make our way to school! Although we'll miss first period." Taylor noted

That was completely fine Madison thought. The fact that they had survived getting to school would be the highlight of the day. "You've driven a boat before?" Madison asked

"Well but I've seen Emma drive a boat before and it didn't look THAT hard." Taylor reminisced

Madison sighed in relief but what she said next made it Taylor's turn to freeze up "At least the worst is over."

"MADISON!" Yelled Taylor in panic towards her

"W-What? What's wrong?" Madison said caught off guard by the panic that came out from Tylor at her from nowhere.

Taylor pointed to herself urgently with a nervous expression on her face "Murphy's Law!"

"What are you talking abo-" Madison suddenly had a flashback back to some kids show she watched. It was a cartoon show featuring the Protectorate. The villain during an episode she watched had said "Don't EVER say what could possibly go wrong or something along the lines of that. Do you have any idea how many tempted Murphy and LOST!"

Madison clapped her hand over her mouth saying a muffled "Oh shi-"

Then that tidal wave crashed into them.

During Taylor's and Madison's crisis in alligator wrangling there was a parahuman who herself Aqua who was also in league with Zoo. She decided to dedicate robbing the same bank that Zoo failed to rob on the same day he got captured and cause a distraction by causing an upheaval in the entire city's water. This caused sinks to spray, fountains to overflow, and manhole covers to pop off. It certainly distracted people but failed due to her not watching herself when one of those flying manhole covers came crashing back down and conked her in the head. So like Zoo she was also captured by the PRT. It was amazing how no one got hurt as no one was hanging around these places of incident. However it caused some rivers to make waves surfers would give their lives to ride on. Two girls however were not willing to bet their lives for a thrill.

Madison screamed falling though the sky for the SECOND time this day. (Second time in her life actually as she made it a habit to not fall from the sky.)

The boat that they were on rode that tidal wave past the bend in the river and off a cliff leaving its cargo and the people on it to take an unwilling lesson on skydiving. Taylor however was much more calmer than Madison and was currently rummaging through her backpack to find something.

"No" Taylor threw away a bicycle horn. "Not this either" she threw away a rubber duckie. "AHA!" Taylor got out a long stick. She grabbed Madison and pulled her close, ignoring and dodging Madison's flailing limbs, she raised the stick which was actually an umbrella and opened it.

They floated for a moment, their descent slowed just like a Mary Poppins movie. Both of the girls enchanted in the magical moment and relieved at the fact that they weren't going to die. Then that moment ended as the top flew up leaving it as a stick as Taylor is not a magical nanny and is a girl cursed with EXREMELY BAD luck. So as the umbrella was a stick their once slow descent progressed to a speedy fall once more.

Taylor looked at the stick in her hands contemplating what had just happened and looked at Madison in her arms whose smile was frozen and eyes gradually filling with the spark of panic. Madison looked at Taylor who said "Okay… so we're probably going to die."

They held each other tightly squeezing their eyes shut and waiting for the inevitable end.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited just a bit more.

When they opened their eyes they found that they were NOT dead and were in a state of thankful confusion. Then the thankfulness was replaced with distress when they found that instead of falling… they were rising?

They looked up discovering themselves to be covered in an ethereal blue light and trailing their eyes up to the direction the light had come from and saw where it come from.

"What the actual f**k" Madison commented at seeing their savior. "No seriously WHAT THE S**T!" Madison retorted as she witnessed a flying saucer for the first time in her life.

"Madison! Language!" Taylor said to Madison before turning back to examine the object of attention more closely.

"Oh hey I know those guys!" Taylor exclaimed in cheerful surprise.

Madison whipped her head towards Taylor. "…WHAT!?"

"I swear to God Mr. Drako is NOT a vampire, so shut up about it already Greg." Emma remarked as Greg rambled about vampiric possibilities.

"Okay, okay fine" Greg backed off. Then he opened up a notebook and said "Wanna hear about these parahumans!?" Emma deeply inhaled through her nose she leaned back in her desk and struggled not to groan.

Desperate to change the subject she said "So what did you bet Greg?"

"Oh for Taylor's arrival? I guessed she'd probably be going to come by gym or something. Since ya know she hates gym and Murphy's Law makes things worse." Greg responded.

"Huh, that's an actually reasonable guess. I wouldn't have expected that from you" Emma said.

"Why thank y- Hey! What do you mean wouldn't expect it from me!?"

"You don't seriously think that you'll win this right?" Another random student couldn't help but remark. "I mean it's almost time for homeroom and the new teacher to come."

"That's because you underestimate Taylor. Though the Madison Clements girl might slow her down a little she can be UNSTOPPABLE." Emma said with a sure smile ignoring Greg's protests. (Are you ignoring me!? What do you mean by "didn't expect"!?)

"Oh please it's if so I'll forfeit my LUNCH!"

"Me too!"

"Me three!"

A cacophony of agreements came up around the classroom, agreeing to what was a for-sure bet.

(Really everyone's just gonna ignore me? Okay fine. I bet my lozenge-what don't look at me like that there's cold in Flu season!)

"Oh so everyone wants to double up!" Emma called across the room. A resounding Yes was called back.

"Alright!" She pulls out a clipboard with a sly grin.

"State your bets!"

"Aliens exist." Madison said monotonously

Being picked up by a giant bird, chased by a robot, getting the hots for a gang leader, getting stuck in the sewers, riding alligators, and being saved by a pig were things that Madison could… somewhat deal with. And then this sci-fi s**t happens.

"Bleep! Zorp! Nice to see you guys again!" Taylor smiled; waving from the stand she was strapped.

The two bug eyed creatures from another world waved back to them garbling a greeting back to her in their own language before turning back to their own assortment of tools. (Oh God Madison realized she was going to be probed. She was too young to be probed!)

"Aliens exist." Madison repeated in the way that a mental patient was just about to grab the nearest thing near her and start stabbing people. Turning her head slowly to the arguable cause of the entire insanity her life had turned into she reiterated "Aliens exist" Madison said pointedly. "And you know them."

"Do you usually repeat stuff under stress?" Taylor responded

" **Taylor!"**

"Okay. Okay" Taylor acquiesced. "Emma and I met Bleep and Zorp as they had abducted us a bunch of times." Taylor said this with the tone of someone who was mildly miffed as if the neighbors's dog was s**ting on her lawn not with the appropriate tone of someone who has been abducted MULTIPLE TIMES. (Madison was just feeling a LITTLE annoyed that she was the only appropriately hysterical person here. _'Oh my god I'm the only sane person here.'_ ) "But they're always getting interrupted before we even get to whatever they want to do with us or accidentally abduct us instead of the one they were trying to abduct. So they usually drop us off where we need… half the time."

Oh so being abducted by aliens is a thing with you now apparently Madison thought to herself as she stared at Taylor with the feeling that could only be described as I'M DONE.

Taylor continued explaining "Apparently they're here to study some sort of anomaly that had come up here on this Earth and were investigating in secret. Woooo~" Taylor wiggled her fingers in emphasis.

"Wait so they TOLD you that?" Madison asked pushing back the investigating aliens due to an anomaly on Earth because NO she could only take so much nonsense and anymore was about to peak her limit.

"Not really. I guessed from context." Taylor shrugged. "It's surprisingly easy to somewhat understand people when you've been punched in the face with every language possible."

Pushing the latter thing aside Madison said "Then do you think you can get them to understand that we need to be on school on time?" Hey hysterical she may be they've got a flying saucer and Madison was never one to let down an opportunity.

"Oh yeah!" Taylor brightened up in realization. "Hey guys!" The aliens turned to Taylor. One of them in the middle of grabbing something that looked HIGHLY INVASIVE. (OH god Madison thought again for the umpteenth time this day) Having their attention Taylor pleaded "I know you guy REALLY want to finally start experimenting but we have the first day of high school as sophomores coming back and we can't afford to be late!" Taylor's face then turned into what was a DISGUSSTINGLY accurate depiction of a puppy begging. "Do ya think you can drop us off?"

The aliens turned to each other to deliberate

"Hah!" said some random student Emma was studiously ignoring "The teacher is almost here! You can't possibly expect to think that they will show up before roll call." Gesturing to the two empty desks.

"He's right Emma they haven't showed up yet for class at all and it's almost time for roll call. Are you sure they're okay?" Greg said a little worried.

"They're fine" Emma responded. "And all you other losers can suck it. Taylor's gonna show up. You guys don't know her like I do." Emma smirked slyly. "After all my college fund needs a few donations."

The homeroom teacher came strolling in and came up to the front of the class.

"Good morning students!" greeted the teacher cheerfully.

"Good morning Ms. Knotts" chorused back the classroom.

"It's time for roll call." Bringing out a sheet of paper she called out a list of names and came to one.

"Taylor Hebert-Murphy?"

"Present!"

All the students' heads in the classroom (except Emma who had now a look of absolute delight) turned fast to witness Taylor Hebert-Murphy sitting primly at her desk with a wide smile on her face, hands clasped together, as if she had been sitting there the whole time.

"Oh come on!" yelled out one student at the unfairness of the situation, particularly because he had bet a 100$ and a whole fried chicken to the deal.

"Quiet now! We haven't gone through all of roll call!" Ms. Knotts had the crowd of complainers to get quiet (though they still seethed just a tiny bit when seeing Emma hold a smile as huge as Taylor's at all of them.)

"Madison Clements?" the teacher called out

The girl being called out beside Taylor had clothes that looked fairly rumpled and looked frazzled with eyes glazed over in a daze.

"Present?" where Madison answered more in the form of a question rather than an answer, mostly because the person couldn't believe that she had actually made it to school on time (or was able to stay alive getting there unblemished).

"Well it looks like everyone is present and accounted for. Everyone make sure to treat the new girl nicely." Ms. Knotts then sat at her desk. Emma turned in her seat to face Taylor and Madison.

Emma raised an eyebrow in askance "So how'd you two get here so fast?"

At the same time Taylor said "Bleep and Zorp!" "Aliens." tones differing in the way that heaven was peaceful and hell was torturous.

"Really? I haven't seen those guys in a long time. Did they manage to probe you?" Emma asked in the way that someone asked about the weather.

"Nope!" answered Taylor

"Apparently aliens take the value of education very seriously." Madison deadpanned.

Then feeling around her skirt pockets Madison realized something important.

"Shiiiiiiiiii-take mushrooms (changing her wording when Taylor enforced a stern glare at her, perfectly emulating scolding mothers everywhere) I forgot my lunch money!"

"Awww and I forgot my turducken sandwich! The sandwich with all the most popular bird meats!"

Emma waved away their worries. "Don't worry about that girls. I've got this covered."

And so indeed did Emma have it covered, for when the bell rang students got up from their seats grumbling a little as they dropped cash, lunch bags and boxes, candy, and even a lozenge for some reason on Emma's desk as they left the room for 1st period. The scene was like witnessing grumpy cultists giving up offerings to a dominating goddess. Taylor was pleasantly surprised by the situation while Madison gawked, her jaw dropping further with each item placed on the table. Madison viewing Emma with a new light in her eyes replacing her cool and laidback first impression with all that but with an opportunistic edge.

"Taylor think you can fit this all in your backpack?" asked Emma

"Sure can!" responded Taylor. "I have the Tupperware to store it away for too.

Taylor started putting it away while Madison whispered to Emma in question. "Is it like this every day with her?"

"HA! Emma barked out in laughter "What do you think?" said Emma with the words of a veteran. (It was worrying how she didn't answer her question but still explained a lot at the same time by not answering it.)

"Ooh a lozenge! Anyone want one?"

Both girls turned to Taylor eyebrows raised in question marks.

"What it's cold in flu season."

If Murphy's Law were to ever anthropomorphize it would be rubbing its theoretical hands in the sort of hammy evil villain way. And if you ever listened ever so closely these theoretical words would be coming out of its mouth. " **Let the fun begin~** "


End file.
